Add protection to iOS and Android apps without additional effort and with a consistent experience across platforms.

Implement multiple services or SDKs simultaneously to the same app.

The Problem

Bots—computer programs that work automatically—have long been a part of the internet. Good bots are often deployed to improve the user experience, as is the case with customer support chat bots, search engine crawlers and any number of one-dimensional task bots. But the utility of these programs has also been employed for more nefarious uses, such as infecting user devices or IoT systems to take control of their associated resources, stealing identity information to take over accounts, or even outright theft of digital content and intellectual property.

As our online lives play out on mobile devices, bad actors are deploying their malicious bots against mobile apps. Unfortunately for mobile app developers, many techniques used by traditional bot-defense solutions rely on JavaScript, which is not supported by native mobile apps.

Figure 1: JavaScript is not supported by native mobile apps.

As a result, if you don’t take precautions, your back-end mobile API components can be exposed to automated attacks such as content scraping, denial of service (DOS), credential stuffing, fake account creation and a host of other problems (see table).

Table 1: How do bots attack the app layer?

Account Takeover

Credential Stuffing

Mass log-in attempts used to verify the validity of stolen username/password pairs

Our close partnership with Appdome is an important part of a comprehensive, mobile anti-bot solution. F5 Advanced WAF integration with Appdome extends bot protection to mobile apps with application whitelisting, behavioral analysis, secure cookie validation and advanced app hardening. Appdome also provides the means for fast and easy integration so that developers and non-developers alike can implement the full functionality of F5® Anti-Bot Mobile SDK using a simple “click to implement” interface.

F5 Networks and Appdome Partnership

Mobile apps don’t come with native compatibility to F5 Anti-Bot Mobile SDK, which, until now meanrequireds mobile developers are required to modify the source code of mobile apps in order to discover, connect to and authenticate to F5 services. In the past, this hasThis posed a significant challenge to enterprises that wanted to leverage F5 services for mobile app access, often causing them to abandon projects or choose not to initiate mobile projects at all.

Now, through close partnership with Appdome, integration could not be easier. Appdome offers a patented integration platform-as-a-service (IPaaS) solution that can add the F5 Anti-Bot Mobile SDK (or any mobile security service) to any mobile app (Android or iOS) in minutes without coding. Appdome delivers a faster, easier, and more efficient alternative to manual coding to add new capabilities to applications and can protect a mobile application from bots and automated attacks in three steps:

Add the protected host information and other optional selections and click the Build My App button

A new app binary with all the features of F5 Anti-Bot Mobile SDK will be generated in minutes. Simply sign the new app and deploy it using existing workflows.

How It Works

Appdome is the industry’s first no-code mobile integration platform. The company’s patented Fusion technology and its AI-Digital Developer™, known as AMI, powers a self-service platform. This platform allows anyone to complete the integration of thousands of mobile services, standards, vendors, SDKs and APIs in security, authentication, access, mobility, mobile threats, analytics and more, adding these services to any mobile app instantly.

This no-code mobile integration platform enables customers to implement F5 Anti-Bot Mobile SDK to any mobile app. For F5 customers, this means you can leverage your existing F5 investment to manage access to enterprise resources from all Android and iOS apps. This includes native, hybrid and non-native apps, as well as third-party apps and apps developed in any framework out of the box.

In addition, Appdome eliminates dependencies on in-app standards, freeing app developers from having to manually code these into their apps. Customers can leverage modern authentication for any app without a dependency on third-party app maker roadmaps.

Summary

As hostile bots become ever more pervasive with their attacks on mobile applications, organizations need a way to quickly and effectively apply powerful, protective F5 Advanced WAF capabilities to their mobile assets. Appdome offers an IPaaS solution that enables users to easily add the F5 Anti-Bot Mobile SDK to any mobile app in minutes, without coding.

Simplify POCs: Streamline your evaluation process and conduct Proof of Concepts (POCs) without draining resources or installing any hardware or software. All POCs are instant with Appdome.

Enjoy a consistent experience across platforms: Appdome is cross-platform and framework independent. Bot protection can be added to iOS and Android apps without additional effort and with a consistent experience across platforms. It works with any app created in any framework with no modifications or plugins.

Take advantage of multi-service implementations: With Appdome, users can implement multiple security services to the same app. This enables you to implement layered defenses covering a comprehensive array of mobile attack vectors. For example: add F5 Anti-Bot Mobile SDK with Appdome TOTALData Encryption and TOTALCode Obfuscation to achieve a comprehensive mobile security solution in minutes.